Break the Frozen Heart
by SkulShurtugalTCG
Summary: Six months after the Great Thaw, Anna and Elsa are working to make up for all their years apart. But despite their best efforts, there's still a level of distrust between them. But when a royal guard named Ivan tells Elsa of a place that could possibly explain her magical roots, the two sisters go on a journey that tests their faith in each other. Love cannot exist without trust.
1. Chapter 1

"Isssss your favorite color still blue?"

So asked Anna as she braided her sister's hair. The two of them were in Elsa's powder room, sitting in front of the mirror. Anna's hands were busy twirling three strands of Elsa's hair into a single braid on the left side, just the way Elsa liked it. Usually, Elsa would do it herself, but right now, she had a few hours off from her royal duties. Anna took the opportunity to spend some bonding time together, as sisters.

This was a game she had come up with not long after the big adventure the two shared over the past summer, when Elsa had revealed her magical snow powers and ran away, and Anna had gone after her, and all the fun things that happened afterward…

Her mind was wandering. She cleared her throat, reminding Elsa that her question had yet to be answered.

Elsa chuckled and nodded her head silently.

"Yes, I was right!" Anna called in triumph. The way the game worked, the two sisters would trade questions back and forth—personal questions. Anna preferred to ask Elsa questions about her interests and favorite things; after all, the two had grown up basically as strangers, and Anna was itching to get back to the status of "all-knowing sister."

Elsa, on the other hand, knew quite a bit about Anna already. She had a knack for remembering details, and even after almost fifteen years separated, she knew Anna just as well as when they were children. It also helped that Anna's personality had not changed much since that time; even as a grown woman, Elsa was fascinated by Anna's child-like take on life, able to find happiness and hope in almost every situation.

Now it was her turn to ask a question. She waited for Anna to settle in a few more braids before inquiring, "Where do you keep your stash of chocolate?"

The question surprised Anna, to the point where her hands froze in place. "S-stash?" she stuttered. "Um…" She quickly started braiding again. "I don't know what you're talking about," she innocently added.

Elsa glanced at Anna in the mirror and raised an eyebrow. "Anna," was all she had to say.

"Behind my bed," Anna replied. Her smile returned. "I found a hole in the wall that is the perfect hiding place. All I need to do is put the chocolate in a box and put the box in the hole and cover up the whole, and there you have it!"

As she finished her sentence, Anna also finished Elsa's braid. She patted it contentedly and swung it in front of Elsa's shoulder. Elsa admired it in the mirror and slid her hand up and down the braid in satisfaction.

"It's perfect," she said with a smile. She stood up and patted the chair. "Now it's your turn."

Anna was caught off-guard. This was the first time Elsa had ever volunteered to make up her hair. "Oh?" She quickly glanced at herself in the mirror. Her hair was already made up for the day. Kind of. Actually, she had slept in and had to settle with flattening it with a brush several hours ago. And by flattening her hair, that basically meant making it less poofy.

"You know you need it," Elsa pressed. With a chuckle, she corrected, "You know you _want_ it."

"All right, all right," Anna consented, and promptly took Elsa's seat. "What did you have in mind?"

Elsa sat behind Anna and started straightening her red hair. "Your usual pigtails, of course," she responded. "And was that your question?"

Anna raised an eyebrow. "My question?"

"For the game, silly."

"Oh, right." Anna's head jerked so hard at her realization, Elsa almost lost her grip on her hair. "Sure, we can call that my question."

"Then I already answered." Elsa proceeded to draw an invisible line down the back of Anna's head, gathering all hair on the left side and splitting it into three groups. "Then I guess it's my turn to ask a question. I need to make it a good one."

Anna felt a very small chill by her neck. Curious, she looked at her neck in the mirror, and gasped in amazement. To help keep her braid together, Elsa had created a pin of ice, tipped with a model of a blue snowflake. It stood out well against her red hair, and she felt it was perhaps the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Before she could thank Elsa, her sister already had her question. "Who do you love most?"

Once again, Elsa's question caught Anna off-guard. "What?"

This time, however, it seemed to also catch Elsa off-guard. Her hands stopped just as suddenly as Anna's head just before. "Oh, I said that out loud?" she whispered. She slowly began working on the other half of Anna's hair. "Forget about it."

Anna contemplated letting the question slide; after all, Elsa obviously did not mean to actually ask it. But still, it had been asked all the same, so it was unavoidable now. "What do you mean, who do I love most?" she pressed, trying to make her voice sound gentle.

Elsa hesitated, concentrating on her work for a few seconds, before she slowly responded, "Long ago, when we were kids, you told me that you loved me more than anyone else in the world. I was wondering if that was still true, even after all we've been through."

Anna had to think hard, but she did remember telling Elsa that. In her memories, they had been on a sled during winter, and Elsa had just pushed her down the steepest snow-covered hill she had ever seen. As she reached the bottom, she had pronounced her love to Elsa—that she loved her sister more than anyone else in the world.

That wasn't too long before Elsa was shut out from her life. After that time, they hardly saw each other. Elsa showed up to dinner most of the time, seated on the opposite side of the table from Anna. When they took trips, Elsa quietly focused intensely at a book instead of conversing with her sister. The few times during the day Anna was able to find Elsa, she quickly excused herself and hid away in her room.

Now, of course, Anna understood why. She had sat at the other end of the table to keep Anna safe from her uncontrollable powers. She had stuck her nose in a book to concentrate on other things than accidentally freezing Anna. She had hidden away in her room all those years because of her fear—a legitimate fear—of killing her sister.

As hard as it was to remember, in the end, Anna had to admit that Elsa _had_ killed her. But that was all in the past, and she still loved her sister as much as she had back then.

"Of course I love you," she responded.

Elsa finished Anna's second pigtail and smiled. "I know that," she replied. "But my question was, who do you love most in the world?"

Anna was about to pronounce her undying sisterly love to Elsa, just as she had back in their youth, when she suddenly realized exactly what Elsa was asking. Back then, it was just the two of them. They had no friends; they were royalty, after all, and rarely interacted with others outside the castle. They only had each other. Now, of course, they had so many other people in their lives. Like Kristoff, and Sven, and—

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She let Elsa answer it while she admired her hair in the mirror. The pin in her left pigtail did not receive a mate on her right, but she didn't mind; it helped make Elsa's handiwork more unique. She smiled in satisfaction, and reminded herself to thank Elsa as soon as she was done with the door.

"Hi, Elsa!"

The voice made Anna suddenly decide to join Elsa. She stood up and made her way to the door, already knowing who had knocked.

Olaf was standing just outside, shuffling his feet impatiently. His snow flurry hung over his head, matching Elsa's height, and making sure the snowman could comfortably walk around in the heated castle.

"Hello, Olaf," she greeted.

Olaf, still shuffling his feet, waved furiously at Anna. "Hi, Anna!" He gripped his hands—or rather, the ends of his branch-arms—together tightly. "Can I come in, please?"

Elsa gestured her hand, and Olaf scurried inside in haste. "I guess you're still learning patience, aren't you?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, and I'm not sure I like patience," Olaf admitted. "Hi again, Anna," he said as he passed the redhead, before continuing, "I don't like having to wait for things to happen. Why can't things just happen when I want them to?" He hopped onto the seat in front of the mirror. "Like winter, for example. Elsa, you can create snow, right? So why can't you make winter disa—"

Olaf's voice caught so quickly, Anna worried for a second that he might have choked on something. But a brief assessment of his position left her in peace; Olaf was staring straight into the mirror, and it seemed he had found his reflection.

"Is there another snowman, just like me?" he asked. Then, realizing the reflection talked exactly as he did, he lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. "He's an impostor," he growled—as much of a growl as Olaf was capable of producing—and suddenly shifted his position: carrot nose pointed straight up, head turned to the side, arms stretched out as far as he could reach. When the reflection did the same, he grasped his cheeks. "Elsa, are you replacing me? Did you make another talking snowman, just like me, because you don't like me anymore?"

Elsa and Anna looked at each other, both struggling to not giggle. "No, you're not being replaced," Elsa replied.

Olaf's attitude immediately changed. "Good, because I'm beginning to like this guy." He turned back to the mirror and waved. "Hi, fellow snowman! I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs! What's your name?" He waited several seconds for an answer, but it soon became apparent that one would not come. "Oh, you're probably shy. Don't worry. I don't bite. See, I only have one tooth, and it's made of snow!"

Finally, Elsa and Anna could not contain themselves. They both laughed, as quietly as possible to avoid offending Olaf, and had to cover their mouths. "Come over here, little guy," Elsa finally managed to say.

Olaf got off his seat, quickly glared at the mirror with "I'll be back when you're ready to tell me your name," and walked back over to Elsa. "What is it?" he asked.

"Why did you come here? Was there something you needed?"

"Yeah," Olaf nodded. "I already said it: can you get rid of winter? You did it this summer, right? So you should be able to get rid of winter in winter too."

Elsa chuckled. "I can't do that." Then her chuckle disappeared. Her brow stiffened, and she looked intensely at her hands. "Can I?"

Anna's heart fluttered at the thought. "Can you really do that?" she asked.

"I don't know," Elsa admitted. "I don't _think_ so, but I've never tried before."

"Can you try now?" Olaf pleaded. He gripped the bottom of Elsa's dress. "Please? I want to see summer again!"

From the look on her face, Anna surmised that Elsa was seriously considering it. But the look only lasted a moment. Instead, she had to pat Olaf on the head, squishing his body parts together slightly. "Sorry, Olaf. I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for summer like everyone else."

Olaf was visibly disappointed, but seemed to accept it. "But I hate waiting," he murmured as he walked back out, dragging his feet along the carpet and leaving pieces of snow in his wake. "This whole patience thing is not very fun."

Anna chuckled. Olaf reminded her a lot of herself, when she was little. Undoubtedly, Elsa created him that way—even though she didn't quite realize it at the time. Regardless, he was a welcome addition to the castle, even though he was constantly running around trying to explore and discover new things. On more than one occasion, he had opened doors without asking first, which had led to several…well, several unfortunate events.

The clocks chimed, and out of the corner of her eye, Anna saw Elsa scurry across the room. "What is it?" she asked.

"It's three o'clock," Elsa responded. "That means my break is up. It's time to go back to being Queen of Arendelle."

"I'll take care of that," Anna quickly offered as Elsa attempted to put away the hair products they were just using. "Go on, you've got a kingdom to save!"

Elsa chuckled. "Well, not save, per se." She rushed back across the room to the door. "But I suppose we can go with that for now." She paused and turned back to look Anna in the eye. She winked. "And you owe me an answer."

"I'll have it for you this evening," Anna promised.

With that, Elsa departed, leaving Anna to clean up their small mess. And ponder on an answer to Elsa's question.


	2. Chapter 2

Elsa walked briskly through the halls of the castle, on her way to her study. Her mind raced as she tried to organize her agenda.

_Okay, priority goes to the export bill. Then, before anything else, I must look over the Council notes from yesterday. Perhaps I should also write a letter to the neighboring kingdoms and ask for their leaders to meet here sometime next month to discuss our alliance. And maybe, if I still have time after that's all over, I'll be able to spend some time with Anna. She would love that; I know I would._ A smile crossed Elsa's face. _I can take her to the top of Glittertind Mountain to watch the sunset._

"Maybe then she'll have her answer on who she loves most," she whispered. "I hope it's me, even after all the things I've done…"

Her smile promptly disappeared as her stride slowed to a stop. Elsa hadn't meant to say it out loud. In fact, she hadn't even meant to think to. But it was a very serious thought all the same—one she could not discard easily.

Yes, she and Anna were sisters again. For the first time since they were little, they did everything together, as often as their schedules allowed. They did all kinds of things they used to do a long time ago; they stayed up late swapping spooky stories, they went shopping for clothes, they spent time outside playing in the snow—both real snow and Elsa's magical snow. The list of things they did together went on and on.

But no matter what they did, and no matter how often Anna assured Elsa that she loved her, a small part of Elsa could not believe it. How could Anna love her after Elsa shut her out of her life for almost fifteen years? How could she fully love her after Elsa had frozen her heart and killed her?

Elsa hugged herself tight. _What is there even_ to _love? I'm a monster._ She felt the air around her chill at the thought, and glance down at the carpet revealed traces of ice beginning to spread from her feet. She didn't bother holding it back. _How could Anna love me, even after what I did? How can she love me, knowing who I am? _

Elsa shook her head. _No, don't think like that._ She closed her eyes tight, willing for such thoughts to leave her mind, and continued her walk forward. She forced herself to focus on her plans for later tonight. She could almost see it now: the two sisters, sitting on blankets spread out on the snow, watching the sunset together. Alone—_finally_ some true alone time together, with nobody around to remind them of royal duties, nobody to obsess over reindeer and ice, nobody to bump into unexpectedly—

All of a sudden, something appeared in Elsa's path. And as her eyes were closed, she walked straight into it. She managed to catch her balance and quickly opened her eyes to see what she had collided with.

A royal guard stood in front of her, just as stunned as she was. The instant he recognized Elsa, he quickly regained his composure and bowed stiffly. "Your majesty," he stuttered, "I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there. It's completely my fault."

Elsa quickly interjected, suddenly embarrassed. "No, no, no," she assured him, "it wasn't your fault. I wasn't paying attention." She patted his shoulders, motioning him to rise from his bow. She studied his face for a brief moment, before admitting, "I'm sorry, I don't recognize you."

"No, Excellency," the guard concurred. "This is my first day. I've been working hard on becoming a royal guard for several months." He saluted. "Ivan Reed of Arendelle, at your service, your majesty."

Elsa was very uneasy with people being so formal around her. She managed to force a smile, before murmuring, "Most of the guards just call me Elsa."

Ivan dropped his arm and stood at attention. "Ma'am," he acknowledged.

Somehow, Elsa still felt awkward. "Just Elsa," she insisted. She suddenly remembered that she was in the middle of rushing to her study, and had to speak hastily. "You'll adjust. It is your first day, after all, right?"

"Yes, your ma…" Ivan cleared his throat. "Yes, Elsa."

Elsa smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard." She turned to leave. "Now, please excuse me. I have errands to run."

As she began to walk again, Ivan quickly stepped into stride beside her. "I'll accompany you," he announced.

"That won't be necessary—"

"I insist." Ivan cleared his throat again. "May I speak freely, Elsa?"

The question caught Elsa off-guard. She was so used to everyone in the palace speaking with her… Well, speaking with her _normally_. This young man, however—barely older than she—was so formal, it was almost obnoxious.

"Always feel free to speak your mind, Ivan," Elsa assured.

Ivan nodded. "Yes, ma'am. What I wanted to say was, the whole reason I wished to become a royal guard was because of you."

Elsa had heard many similar stories in the past few months from other guards. There seemed to be a fascination in Arendelle of her powers, and her story, and many young men were inspired to join the ranks. It wasn't that she needed protection; on the contrary, Elsa was quite confident in her abilities to defend herself, and she was sure the guards felt the same way.

"Why is that?" she inquired.

They neared Elsa's study, and Ivan quickly sprinted ahead to open the door for her. "When I heard about when you were almost killed by Prince Hans, I felt a need to join the castle guard ranks, to make sure you would never face that kind of situation ever again."

Elsa paused at the door, processing what Ivan just said. _Did he just say I can't take care of myself?_ Unsure of how to properly respond—perhaps she simply misinterpreted what Ivan meant—she quickly smiled and walked into her study. "Thank you, Ivan."

"Your majesty," Ivan responded, before turning and walking away.

Elsa fought the urge to call out to correct him, but thought better of it. A new palace guard was the least of her concerns; there was work to be done, and the day was growing shorter.


	3. Chapter 3

Elsa was glad when her day ended early. A meeting had to be called off when a visiting nobleman received an emergency notice going on in his kingdom and had to depart immediately, so Elsa wasted no time in preparing for her evening with Anna.

After ordering the servants to keep her whereabouts a secret, Elsa scurried to her room, a spring in her step, to change into something more suitable for the mountains. She had been thinking about it all day, so it did not take her long to change into a heavy woolen dress. Even though the cold did not bother her, she still wanted to wear something warm for Anna to cuddle up to at the top of Glittertind Mountain, and her usual dresses made of ice would simply not do.

After she was dressed, she wrote a letter as hastily as possible—to make it seem urgent—and had it sent to Anna. Then she went into the palace kitchen and requested that the chef pack meals for the two of them, taking care to be very specific about what each girl would receive. Finally, after packing the meals in an insulated picnic box, she made her way outside.

Even though it was barely mid-afternoon, the sun was already low in the sky. A few clouds threatened to roll in and ruin the picturesque sky, but Elsa was confident that they would disappear by the end of the day.

_This will be great_, she thought with a smile. She raised her arms and pointed them straight ahead. _Anna will be so happy._

With a wave of her hands, Elsa began working her magic. In all her years, she had never attempted to build a sleigh out of ice and snow before, but there was always a first time for everything. She crafted the skis out of pure ice, then created a basic framework of the sleigh itself. After that was made, she created two compartments: one for her and Anna to sit in up front, and one for their luggage in the back. Finally, she finished it off with an elegant design on all four sides: two snowflakes, their tips barely touching.

"Elsa!"

Elsa chuckled. Anna's timing, as usual, was perfect. She put the picnic basket in the back and turned around just in time to see her sister bursting through the door. Anna was dressed in an even heavier coat than Elsa, had a blanket stuffed under her arm, and was running quite clumsily in her winter boots.

"Elsa, I came as soon as I heard!" Anna exclaimed. "What's the problem? And why do you need…"

Anna's voice faded away as she took in the sight of the ice sleigh in front of her, and Elsa standing just off to the side, dressed for warm weather.

"Do you like it?" Elsa asked.

Anna's jaw dropped, and she slowly approached the sleigh. "It's so beautiful," she managed to force out. "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow…"

Elsa gently took the blanket from Anna and spread it out on the sleigh's seat. She sat Anna down on the left side, before walking around and sitting down on the right. "All we need is a horse and we're ready to go," she announced.

Anna continued staring at the sleigh, marveling at Elsa's handiwork. "Go?" she asked. She ran a gloved hand over the ice handles. "Go where?"

Elsa waved to a nearby guard, who nodded and walked away briskly. "I want to take you up Glittertind Mountain," Elsa explained. Her smile broadened as Anna's face beamed with excitement. "You and I haven't watched the sunset together from up there since we were little kids. I thought you might enjoy that."

"Oh, would I ever!" Anna exclaimed. She threw her arms around her sister and dug her head into Elsa's shoulder. "Thank you so much! This is amazing!"

Elsa chuckled. "But we haven't even gone yet," she pointed out. At that very moment, the guard returned with one of the palace horses. He hooked up the horse to the sleigh and gave the reigns to Elsa. She thanked him and turned back to Anna. "You can call this my early Christmas present," she finished with a grin.

Anna squealed and restlessly shifted her feet. "This is amazing!" she repeated. Then, with a worried look on her face, she added, "But I still get a real present on Christmas, right?"

"Absolutely," Elsa responded, before she snapped the reigns gently. The horse moved forward, and they were off.

Usually, the trip to the top of the mountain took several hours; this was one reason the two sisters very seldom made the trip, even on their own. However, Elsa was able to create several shortcuts with her magic, by cutting new paths and elevating others as they traveled. This reduced their travel time to just under an hour and a half, so that when they reached the top of the mountain, the sun had yet to begin dipping below the horizon.

Elsa spread the blanket onto the fresh snow and had Anna sit down. When she didn't immediately follow, Anna curiously asked, "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

"No," Elsa assured her. She pulled the picnic basket out of the sleigh, opened it up, and presented a sandwich to Anna. "Your favorite is still roast beef, right?"

Anna's face lit up with anticipation. "With red onions and cucumber?" she anxiously asked.

Elsa cocked her head and smiled. "And tomato," she added.

Anna jumped to her feet and snatched the sandwich from Elsa's hand. Her squeal was audible even as she dug into the sandwich with one big bite. "Muh abffroot fafweht!" she exclaimed.

Elsa chuckled, before retrieving her own sandwich from the picnic basket: smoked salmon, with herbed horseradish cream cheese and lemon zest, all on pumpernickel bread. She sat down on the blanket, Anna close behind, and the two of them admired the sunset together as they ate their dinner.

The sun quickly began to descend, casting long shadows over the adjacent mountains. The sky lit up with colors of orange and red, which tainted the snow around them with the faintest of such colors.

Anna quickly finished her sandwich and rested her head on Elsa's shoulder. "This is the best day ever," she whispered contentedly.

Elsa, barely halfway finished with her own sandwich, simply smiled and patted Elsa's cheek with her free hand.

Anna chuckled. "I didn't quite know what to think when I got your letter," she admitted. "All it said was to dress warm, grab a blanket, and meet in front of the castle. It was written like you wrote it in a haste, so I thought maybe you were in trouble, or that something bad was going on."

"That's what I wanted you to think," Elsa responded. "It worked, too. You should have seen the look on your face when you saw the sleigh."

"Was it like this?" Anna lifted her head off Elsa's shoulder. Then she opened her eyes wide, dropped her jaw, and stared at Elsa in disbelief.

Elsa laughed; Anna's face was identical to how it had been earlier. "Yes, just like that," she concurred.

Anna's face returned to its contented look. "I should have known better. You're always up to your pranks, Elsa. Always trying to make me think you're doing one thing, but you're really doing something else." Her gaze returned to the setting sun. "Like when you planned that surprise birthday party for me. Or when you pretended to be sick to sneak out and buy me a new dress. And don't forget that time when you made Kristoff and Sven hide for three days."

In that last instance, Elsa remembered, Anna decided to go look for them, only to be welcomed back at the castle after their "rescue" by a ball in her honor. She chuckled at the memory. "What can I say," she said. "I like surprising you."

Anna nodded, her smile staying put on her face. "With all you've done to surprise me, it's a wonder I still trust you at all."

It was an innocent remark, but Elsa suddenly felt the smile fade from her face. _Trust…_

Her thoughts from earlier that day replayed themselves in her mind. _Anna is prone to doing things rashly, without thought. What if that comes back and bites her—bites me—in the future?_

She shook her head, intent on ridding her mind of such thoughts. The action caught Anna's attention, and she looked at her sister worriedly. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

Elsa once again shook her head. "No," she replied. But her voice lacked confidence, and the resulting look from Anna reminded her of how useless it was to lie to her sister. With a sigh, she nodded her head. "I have something on my mind," she admitted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Anna asked. She scooted closer to Elsa. "You can tell me anything."

_No, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about how, even after all we've been through, I question you when you say you love me. How can you _possibly_ love me? I'm a monster. I'm a failure as a human being. I have hurt you in so many ways, all your life, and you say you love me even after all that? I just can't believe it._

The thoughts raced through Elsa's head, and she ached to blurt them all out at once. But Anna was here to comfort her, and she couldn't do that if she found out _she_ was the reason Elsa was upset.

"I really don't want to," she finally said.

Anna rubbed her shoulder. "Pretty please?" she asked. "It would mean a lot to me. I'm sure it can't be _that_ bad, can it?"

Elsa, not knowing what else to say, quietly asked, "I just can't," she responded quietly.

Anna was silent for a moment, undoubtedly trying to decide on an appropriate response, before finally nodding her head and looking back to the sun. By now it had mostly set over the horizon; just a little bit of gold was left, and the sky was quickly turning violet. It was very, very beautiful…

But somehow, not quite as sweet as it had been before.

"I thought we were over keeping secrets," Anna whispered. "I thought we could trust each other now. We've been through so much, and we love each other so much, so why can't we trust each other?"

Elsa's heart longed to tell Anna what was on her mind, but she knew to do so would only upset her little sister. That was not what she wanted. She wanted Anna to be happy. Anna could not be happy, knowing that her sister doubted her love.

Could she?

She opened her mouth to speak, but Anna was already continuing. "I guess it can't be that simple, can it?" This time, her voice was very low, very quiet—almost solemn. "Even though I love you very, very much, and you've been my sister my whole life, we haven't really known each other for very long, have we?"

Elsa pondered what Anna was talking about. Even though they were close to each other now, they had been separate for so many years, and it was obviously still a pain that both of them felt. "I suppose not," she replied.

Anna slowly nodded. She looked back at Elsa, her eyes threatening to tear up. "I know, it's horrible, isn't it?" She forced a smile and shrugged. "But you shut me out for so long, and I just haven't gotten over that yet. And now it feels like you are shutting me out all over again…" Her bottom lip began to quiver. "I love you so much, Elsa, but I guess I haven't gotten over that."

In all her worrying about what would happen if Anna found out about her distrust, Elsa had never considered the possibility that Anna was suffering the same problem. The conundrum caught her off-guard, and she froze in place, staring at Anna in silence.

Anna wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I said too much."

Elsa cleared her throat. _I won't shut Anna out again_, she vowed to herself, before speaking up. "Actually, I think the problem is that I haven't said enough." She inhaled deeply, prepared for whatever reaction Anna would give, and explained. "I don't blame you at all." See, I can't trust you either."

Anna sniffled in surprise. "You don't?" she asked.

"No. Because I've hurt you in the worst way imaginable. After everything I did, I was willing to let you hate me. I still am. How could anyone not hate someone after all of that?"

"Because you're my sister," Anna responded. She straightened her pose and looked Elsa straight in the face, their teary gazes meeting. "It's true love, Elsa. You are my sister, and I truly love you." She grasped Elsa's hands with her own, softly gripping them with her bare fingers. "You didn't mean to hurt me, and now that you can control your powers, I know you won't hurt me again."

The sentiment touched Elsa. She slowly felt the fear dissolve away from her heart, and forced a smile. "Anna…"

All of a sudden, Anna's face contorted with pain and she jumped back with a scream. Elsa jumped in surprise. "What's wrong?" Then she noticed Anna's hands: white as snow.

She gasped. _Oh, no…_ She quickly jumped forward and grabbed Anna's hands, cursing at herself for allowing her fear to control her powers. Anna gritted her teeth in pain as Elsa forced the cold from Anna's hands, and even after she was able to wiggle her fingers again, she still winced in pain.

"Are you all right?" Elsa asked with worry. "I didn't mean to. I just let my emotions slip for a second and—"

"I'm fine, Elsa," Anna said reassuringly. She flattened her hands on her cheeks and sighed in relief when she felt warmth. "I'm fine," she repeated in relief.

The relief was echoed in Elsa's sigh. "I'm so sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't," Anna replied. There was a smile on her face, but it was forced, and Elsa knew it. "You just lost focus, that's all." She snapped her fingers with both hands. "See? No harm done. I'm all back to normal." Then she stopped, as if realizing something, and quickly put on her mittens. "Is it getting cold or is it just me?"

It was, indeed, getting colder. Elsa wondered—worried—why for a second, before realizing it was simply because the sun had set and its heat was fading away. "I guess it's time to go back home," she said.

Anna nodded. "Home sounds like a nice place," she agreed.

The two gathered up their things and hopped into the sleigh. Elsa made sure to wrap Anna up in both her coat and the blanket for extra warmth, then set off for the castle.

As they descended down the mountain, they both remained quiet, taking in the conversation they had just shared. What had started out as such a great evening had turned into one of the worst either had had in a long time.

And in the end, they were right back where they started: feeling very distant from each other.


	4. Chapter 4

Anna was in a frenzy. Christmas was mere days away and there was still so much to be done. Plans needed to be made—both public ones sponsored by the members of Arendelle's royalty, and private ones that Anna was dying to make to surprise Elsa.

Their past few—several—multiple—okay, basically every Christmas that Anna could remember, the two of them had barely been able to be with each other. Their interaction rarely extended past opening presents and attending Christmas Day Mass with their parents. After their parents died, Elsa spent most of Christmas Day distracting herself with appearances and other royal duties, and Anna was forced to eat the whole chicken by herself. It was yummy, but lonely.

But Anna was determined for that not to be the case this year. Now that the two of them were real sisters again, Anna wanted to treat this Christmas like it was their first Christmas ever. She had already made arrangements to keep away visiting nobles—or otherwise persuaded Elsa to do so—and devoted a small two-hour window to Elsa interacting with the citizens of Arendelle. Otherwise, the rest of the day was free, and Anna was excited to fill it up with the best activities she could imagine.

The first thing she planned out was the Christmas Tree; after all, what would Christmas be without the tree? Her first choice in picking out the tree was Kristoff, and she approached him about it about a month before.

At first, Kristoff was unsure about it. "I sell ice for a living, Anna," he explained. "There's not much about trees that have to do with ice. I couldn't tell you the difference between a pine and cedar."

"I trust you," Anna responded. "If you just imagine what your dream Christmas Tree would be, then that's what you should be on the lookout for."

"I think only Elsa can make me a tree made entirely out of ice," Kristoff responded with a grunt, but in the end, he and Sven went out looking for a tree. By nightfall, they returned with one: a twelve-foot evergreen, perfect for the castle.

Anna ordered her servants to set the tree up in the center of the ballroom. While they did, she rushed upstairs and grabbed Elsa, dragging her away from a book on foreign affairs. Elsa protested the first few steps, but once she reached the end of the hallway and saw the tree peaking out from the next room over downstairs, she stopped and stared in awe.

"Do you like it?" Anna asked. "I asked Kristoff to pick it out, and I was hoping you could help me decorate it!"

"It's…beautiful," Elsa gasped. She and Anna finished their walk and stood in the tree's majestic shadow. "Yes, yes, let's decorate it!"

Anna had the servants bring the tree decorations out of storage, and the two sisters started placing ornaments on random branches. However, only about five minutes passed before Olaf popped into the room.

"Hi, Anna! Hi, Elsa! Hi, huge tree!" he called. Then he stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait. Huge tree?" Then he noticed Anna on a ladder, about halfway up the tree, and Elsa on the other side reaching up as high as she could. "What are you two doing with a huge tree in the middle of the palace?"

It suddenly dawned on Anna that Olaf had never seen a Christmas tree before—and that he had never seen Christmas at all before. She jumped down from the ladder and ran up to Olaf. "Do you know what Christmas is, Olaf?" she asked.

"Of course!" Olaf proudly replied, before instantly shaking his snowy head. "I don't have a clue," he confessed.

Anna chuckled. "It's the best day of the whole year! There's so much that goes on! There's the Christmas tree, there's the Christmas feast, there's the Christmas presents…" Her smile spread from one ear to the other. "You'll love it!"

Olaf smiled. "I don't understand, but it sounds exciting! Can I help with whatever you're doing?" Without waiting for a reply, he bolted to the tree, his personal snow flurry barely able to keep up.

Elsa was already there to catch him. "Easy, little guy." She gently grabbed him and held him in place. "A lot of these ornaments are glass, which means they break very easily. I think you're better off wrapping the tree in tinsel."

"What's tinsel?" Olaf inquired. "And can I do it now?"

Elsa chuckled, before patting him on the head. "You'll just have to wait a little bit. It's one of the last things to go on the tree. But," she added with a wink, "it's the most important."

Olaf gasped in excitement. "I get to put on the most important thing!" he squealed, before plopping down on his snowy bottom. "I guess I can wait for that."

Intent on not keeping the snowman waiting for long, Anna and Elsa finished putting the ornaments on the tree. After it was over, Anna brought out the tinsel, blue in color and several yards long. Olaf played with it for a few seconds, chuckling as it tickled his carrot nose, before the two sisters picked him up and spun him around the tree. As the three of them circled, Olaf threw the tinsel up in waves, and before long the tree was wrapped in it tip to trunk.

It was a sight to behold. Anna felt it was the most beautiful Christmas tree ever—not only because of its size and decoration, but because she had Elsa and Olaf's help in making it come to life.

"It's gorgeous," she breathed.

"Yeah," Olaf agreed. "It's perfect."

"Not quite yet," Elsa responded. Before the other two could inquire, she lifted her hands and began working her magic.

Anna and Olaf gasped in amazement as snow blanketed the tree, expertly placed at just the right parts of various branches. It didn't seem like normal snow, either. This snow seemed to radiate a blue light, and it took a moment before they realized it was reflecting the tinsel. Small snowflakes sprinkled the tree top to bottom, and when Elsa was finally done, she flicked her hand one last time.

A star appeared on the top of the tree, made out of pure ice and seeming to shine a bright light all on its own. It bathed the ballroom, and its three onlookers, in soft, blue light.

"_Now_ it's perfect," Elsa finished with a smile. It was obvious from the tone in her voice that even _she_ was amazed by her handiwork.

Without taking his eyes off the spectacle in front of him, Olaf asked, "Do you think you can do that to my bedroom?"

That had been a month ago. Now they were only three days away from Christmas, and Anna was stressed about making sure everything else worked perfectly. The feast was planned down to the last cherry in the pie, the outfits were picked out for every hour of the day, and the gifts were wrapped and sitting under the tree.

But this needed to be _perfect._ Anna wanted her first "real" Christmas with Elsa to go as flawlessly as possible. And while she knew no amount of planning could help her prepare for every possible outcome, she felt she had to try her best.

Right now, she was in the kitchen double-checking all the ingredients for Christmas lunch. As she read off the list—which, when rolled out, stretched for ten feet—she checked the appropriate places in the cupboards and freezer to make sure the ingredients were all there.

Of course, the castle chef wasn't too pleased about having her in there. "Your highness, with all due respect, I don't wish for you to dirty up the food. How would you feel if Elsa were to see a bit of dirt in her mashed potatoes?"

"Mashed potatoes!" Anna exclaimed. She jumped away from her current position by the oven and ran to the pantry. She threw the door open, then counted the number of potatoes she found inside. Then she counted again. "Okay, those are all there," she sighed in relief.

The chef sighed in exasperation. "Princess Anna," he pleaded, "isn't there something else that requires your attention? Anything else?" When Anna hesitated, he patted her shoulder. "I promise that everything will be perfectly fine on Monday night. We're all very happy to have Elsa as our Queen, and it is an honor to cook her a great Christmas feast."

Content, for the moment, that there would be no problems with the food, Anna handed the list back to the chef and exited the kitchen. At any rate, the chef was correct. There _was_ something else that required her attention: she needed to talk with Elsa about the guest list for the ball on Christmas night.

However, the incident from the night before still weighed heavily on her mind. Anna rubbed her hands together as the memories flooded her heart. She knew Elsa had not meant to freeze her, but that didn't stop the hurt.

It wasn't her hands that had hurt. It was her heart. She had opened up to Elsa, made herself vulnerable to her sister. Then she found out Elsa had very similar feelings, and when she tried to reassure her…

She closed her eyes tight. She didn't want to remember anymore. It was too painful.

_Elsa was just a bit afraid_, she told herself, wishing it to be true. _She was just afraid. She didn't mean to hurt me._

Anna finally came to the Elsa's room and knocked on the door. "Elsa?" Her only response was silence. "Are you in there, Elsa?" Still silence. Anna sighed and rested her head on the door. "Please tell me you're in there. I'm not mad at you for what happened last night." After a quiet pause, she continued, "I know you didn't mean to hurt me. And you fixed things right away. So can we please just keep going on with our lives?"

Just as she was beginning to worry that Elsa was shutting her out of her life again, a sound came from further down the hallway. Anna looked in the direction of the noise, and saw snowflakes beginning to gather by one of the doors. Relief filled her as she realized Elsa was not ignoring her; she simply wasn't in her room.

Anna scurried down the hall. As she walked, she began to hear voices coming from the door. "I'm so sorry, Your Majesty," one of them said. "It was completely my fault."

"No, no, don't worry about it," the other—Elsa—responded. "You'd be surprised how many times I've made that same mistake."

"Let me help you with that," the first voice requested.

"That won't be necessary, Ivan," Elsa insisted. Anna heard a tone in her voice she rarely heard from her sister: annoyance. "I'm perfectly capable of—"

"But you are the queen," the other interjected. "It is not fitting for you to do this."

"Ivan, please," Elsa begged. "Please, just leave me alone."

"It's against my duties to do that, Your Majesty."

Anna finally reached the door and opened it a crack. Inside, Elsa was on her hands and knees, picking up a painting that had been on the wall. One of the royal guards was beside her, trying to pull the painting from her grip. As they struggled, Anna caught a glimpse of the painting: it was of their father at his coronation.

As Anna quickly pieced the scene together, Elsa tugged the painting out of the guard's grasp. "Just stop it, Ivan! I know it's your duty, but I wish to do this on my own."

"I won't allow you to, Queen Elsa," the guard stated firmly. With one blinding movement, he tore the painting from Elsa's hand and stuffed it under one arm. "I am here to serve you. I am here to tend to your every need."

Elsa's eyebrows met in a V, and Anna swore that she had never seen her sister so angry. She threw one hand into the air, and at its command, a pillar of ice shot up from the floor, dislodging the painting and tossing it into the air. Elsa caught it and pointed a finger at the guard. "I am your queen, and you will do as I command from now on. Do you understand?"

When the guard did not respond immediately, Anna felt it was as good a time as any to enter. She knocked quietly and opened the door. Before the two could be embarrassed, Anna quickly spoke. "I heard everything. Well, not everything, but everything since that painting fell." She gently closed the door behind her. "Are you all right, Elsa?"

Elsa quickly tried to hide the painting behind her back—not to pretend it didn't exist, but seemingly to protect it. "He wouldn't stop pestering me," she tried to explain.

"I know." Anna approached the guard. "It's Ivan, right?"

The guard stood at attention and saluted. "Your Highness," he stiffly responded.

Anna forced a chuckle; she was not amused by Ivan's formality at all, but based on what she had seen on his behavior, she knew she had to make him feel at ease. "It's Anna. I'm Anna, and this is Elsa."

"I'm quite familiar with you both," Ivan quickly responded.

"I know you do. You are familiar with everything that goes on here at the castle." Anna gripped Ivan's hand and lowered it from his head. "But you need to relax. We're all friends here. We're like a big, happy family in the castle."

Ivan firmly nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Anna sighed. _This will be harder than I thought._ She walked over to Elsa and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "See? A big, happy family!" When Ivan's expression still did not change, she decided to elaborate. "Elsa's the queen, and I'm the princess, so we are not quite equals. But we still treat each other the same, right?" She gently pulled the painting from Elsa's hands and held it in front of her. "Elsa and I appreciate your hard work, and we always admire guards who go above and beyond to protect us."

The faintest hint of softness crept into Ivan's face. "Thank you, ma'am."

"But we're in our own home right now. We don't need protection." Anna pointed to the painting. "This painting means a lot to Elsa. She admired our father, and has always looked up to him. She feels it's _her_ responsibility to take care of this, since it's basically all she has left of him." She turned to Elsa. "Right?"

Elsa slowly nodded, folding her hands in front of her. "I have always wanted to take care of it by myself," she admitted. "Even since before he died."

"My apologies, then, Your Majesty," Ivan responded. But this time, his voice finally began to soften, and it was obvious that he was truly sorry for intervening with Elsa's personal life. "It won't happen again."

Elsa slowly nodded in acknowledgement, before taking the painting from Anna and putting it back on the wall. As she did, Anna continued talking. "I heard you joined the royal guard because you were inspired by Elsa."

"That's correct," Ivan replied with a nod. His stance shifted, and he began to relax his shoulders. "Many of us guards did. We felt that Queen Elsa earned our respect, and we wished to serve her."

Anna chuckled, this time genuinely. "That's Elsa: our inspiration. But Elsa isn't uptight and formal all the time. Usually, she's very quiet and nervous."

"Hey!" Elsa snapped, but there was a twinkle in her eye that told Anna she was not truly mad.

"The point is, Elsa is…well, normal." Anna extended her hand. "So if you want to look to her as inspiration, you can be normal, too. So, let's start over. My name is Anna."

Ivan timidly reached out his own hand, before firmly gripping Anna's. "Hello, Anna," he replied. "I am Ivan." He walked over to Elsa and cleared his throat. "Your Majesty…" His voice faded and he tried again. "Elsa," he corrected. A small smile crossed his face.

Elsa smiled in return. "Ivan," she replied.

"See?" Anna walked over to join them. "That wasn't so hard. We're already one big, happy family!" She threw her arms around the other two in an attempt to start a group hug, but within seconds it was obvious that it was too awkward for them. She sheepishly withdrew her arms and folded her hands. "Anyway, Elsa, I came to talk with you."

"Is it important?" Elsa asked, her voice betraying her exhaustion. It was only midday, and she had spent the morning working on just as many Christmas arrangements as Anna had.

"It's about the guest list. We need to finalize it," Anna explained.

Elsa nodded. "Let's finalize it, then."

The two of them turned to walk out the door, but as Elsa reached for the door knob, Ivan suddenly darted in front of them and opened it hurriedly. "Let me get that for…" His voice stopped suddenly, and he took a slow step backward. "I mean… Sorry, Your Maj—Queen Els—_Elsa_. I know you're capable of getting the door yourself."

For a moment, the room was quiet as Anna and Ivan waited to see how Elsa would react. However, it was only a brief moment, as Elsa was quick to smile and reply, "Thank you, Ivan. I appreciate it." Then she continued her walk out the door.

Anna quickly thanked Ivan as well, before following her sister, a smile on her face. _With that out of the way, I can't wait for Christmas to come! I hope it's the best day of my life—and I'll spend it all with my sister!_


	5. Chapter 5

December 24 fell on a Sunday, so Anna was not at all upset at having to wake up early. Usually she had to get up early on Sundays anyway, since it was expected of her to attend church. Over the years, she had mixed feelings about going; in her childhood, it was one of the highlights of her whole week, but as she got older, she found herself more and more begrudged at going—usually because her parents let Elsa skip out but not her. During her teenage years, especially, the urge to stop going was very strong; after all, Elsa seemed to stop believing in God long ago, so why should she?

However, during one of the few conversations the two sisters had with each other during their separation, Elsa revealed that, while the rest of her family went to church, she would stay locked up in her room to pray. At first Anna didn't believe her; who would spend a full two hours, every week, praying? Especially someone as young as Elsa?

Now, of course, Anna knew that Elsa's prayers were for God to take away her snow powers. Elsa would pray, probably harder than anyone else ever had, for the curse to be lifted from her. In hindsight, Anna felt like a fool; while she had been in church, trying to pass the time by counting the number of cracks in the floorboards, Elsa had been at home, deeper in prayer than Anna had ever imagined possible.

Now Elsa attended church with Anna every single week. Now that she could control her powers, she was more than happy to attend with the common folk of Arendelle. And Anna was glad to go with her every week—not just because she was royalty, but because she wanted to. She was glad to be with her sister, no matter where they went, and after all they had been through, she felt she owed God at least that much.

As Anna got dressed in her best Sunday clothes, she mentally ran through the schedule for the day. After church, Elsa was hosting a lunch for the palace residents. Then there was to be a candlelit service at the church again later that night, which Elsa was to lead. There had been a plan to end the day by leading a choir through town singing Christmas carols, but a last-minute change resulted in that being moved to tomorrow.

It didn't seem like a lot, but past experience told Anna that it was going to be a rather full day. But it was Christmas Eve, after all, and she was the Princess of Arendelle, so she was confident she could handle it.

She finished her outfit with a bow in her hair, then exited her room. Elsa was already waiting for her outside, which was no surprise, since Elsa always woke up earlier than Anna. She smiled at Anna as the younger sister emerged from her bedroom. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she greeted.

Anna gaped at Elsa's dress. "Whoa." The dress, made of ice, was one of the most beautiful dresses Anna had ever seen. Elsa had somehow made it red and green: red on most of her body, with green sleeves and neck. There was no cape like she normally wore on her dresses; instead, there seemed to be several layers of material on the bottom half, which created a marvelous effect around Elsa's lower body. When she shifted her stance, Anna saw each individual layer move one at a time, like a wave.

"Do you like it?" Elsa asked.

"Oh, yes!" Anna quickly paced a circle around Elsa, taking in every inch of the dress's magnificence. "You look beautiful!"

"Thank you." Elsa took a moment to study Anna's dress. It was one she had worn several times—in fact, now that Anna thought about it, she had even worn it to Elsa's coronation. But it was green, and green was a Christmas color, so it seemed appropriate. "You look beautiful, too," she added with a smile. "Better than that mountain man you hang out with, anyway."

"Don't be silly," Anna responded as the two of them began to walk down the hallway. "Kristoff doesn't wear dresses."

"No," Elsa agreed, "but with what he is wearing this morning, he may as well."

No sooner did Elsa finish her sentence than the two sisters reached the end of the hallway. Kristoff was at the bottom of the stairs, politely waiting for them to arrive. Kristoff himself did not usually go to church ("I'm sure God understands, the ice will not harvest itself"), but he had made an exception today. And while his hair was nice and unusually groomed, his attire left much to be desired.

His black shirt extended down past his knees, and his sleeves were so loose that they flopped around whenever he made the slightest movement. His tie was little more than a long piece of red rope, and his shoes were his normal, everyday shoes.

The look on his face told them he was not excited to wear it. And when they got close enough to talk with him, the first thing he said was, "Bulda refused to let me wear anything else."

Lucky for him, there were plenty of outfits for him to choose from their father's wardrobe. Within a few minutes, he was changed into a much more respectful black suit and _real_ red tie. The transformation was so quick, the three of them still had time to walk to church before the service started.

The service started with an assortment of hymns, and Anna was amused by Kristoff's attempt at joining in; even though they were well-known Christmas hymns, Kristoff had been raised by trolls, and thus didn't know any Christmas songs. So, while she and Elsa sang away, Kristoff would mumble along, pretending to sing. Every now and then, he would catch on to a song and manage to sing a few words, before dropping his voice once again.

Luckily for him, the songs ran their course soon enough, and the congregation seated as the priest began his special Christmas Eve sermon. He made a special note of Elsa's presence, and mentioned how grateful Arendelle was to have a reigning monarch on Christmas for the first time in three years. He made his sermon short—a read-through of the Christmas story itself would come later that night—and they were out before eleven o'clock.

With an hour remaining before the two sisters were required back at the palace, they decided to take a walk through the town. Snow topped all the roofs—natural snow, not Elsa's magical snow—and many of the townspeople had put out wreaths and Christmas candles to celebrate the holiday season. Many greeted them with a short bow. A few children ran up to Elsa and shamelessly tried playing with her dress; when their parents hurriedly tried to pull them away, Elsa chuckled and assured them that it was perfectly fine. Her dress was made from her magic, so no matter what the kids did to it, it would never tear or rip. In fact, as they left, Elsa quickly made several small sheets of ice-fabric for the kids to continue playing with.

The two made it back in time for lunch, which was served in the castle's grand dining room. By the time all five courses had been served, Anna was so stuffed she felt she wouldn't have to eat for a month. After lunch, Anna retreated to her room to wrap Christmas presents. She had presents for Olaf and Kristoff picked out weeks in advance, and many small presents for all the castle staff were bought in the preceding week.

Her present for Elsa, however…

Anna held Elsa's present in her hands for several long minutes. It was a square locket, with pictures of both their parents inside. She had to have it specially made by an artist in town, who used paintings inside the castle as a basis for their portraits. The locket itself was pure gold, hung on a small silver chain.

Anna had thought for many weeks on the perfect gift for Elsa, before finally settling on this. It was gorgeous. It was perfect.

_Perfect…_

She opened the locket to look at her parents' faces. She smiled slightly. _You two would be proud of Elsa_, she thought. _She's grown so much. She's a great queen. And an even better sister._ She closed it gently and placed it in a small box.

"Perfect…"

She forced herself to ignore the negative thoughts threatening to pop into her head. She quickly found some wrapping paper and proceeded to carefully envelope the box in purple and pink.

"What if she doesn't like it?" she found herself whispering. "What if it's _not_ perfect?"

Anna shook her head. _I thought about this for weeks. No other gift comes close. She loved Mama and Papa, and so she'll love this, too._

She finished wrapping her presents, then set them under the giant tree in the center of the castle. Many other presents were already there; Anna took a few minutes to peak at the ones addressed to her, and found her present from Elsa. It was rather small, barely larger than the one she had just wrapped for Elsa herself. She shook it excitedly, but no sound came from within. With a sigh, Anna placed it back under the tree; it, like the other presents, would have to wait until the next morning to be opened.

Soon enough, evening came, and they returned to the church for the Christmas Eve candlelight service. Anna sat in the pew with Kristoff, while Elsa stood at the front beside the priest. Everyone in the church received a candle, which they held vigilantly as Elsa read the Christmas story from the Bible. Anna had to admit, she admired Elsa's reading voice: it was calm, methodic, and clear. Elsa had been reading aloud ever since she was little; she read bedtime stories to Anna all the time when they were younger, and as she grew older it was required that she learn proper public speaking as the queen-to-be.

All of a sudden, it hit Anna that this was the very first time Elsa had ever addressed the people of Arendelle in a formal manner. For the past six months, she rarely made public appearances, and when she did, she never made a speech. She tended to stay away from the public eye, instead focusing on private matters like laws and decrees.

_I guess it's appropriate_, Anna decided, _for Elsa to make her first speech on Christmas Eve._

When Elsa finished reading the Christmas story, the congregation sang a hymn, once again to Kristoff's discomfort, before letting out. It was nighttime, and since Anna knew it was going to be a long day tomorrow, she decided to walk back to the palace instead of staying behind to chat.

She tried going to sleep, but her excitement for the next day kept her mind awake, so after a few hours she got up, lit a candle, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of milk. To her surprise, Elsa was already there, and already had a glass of milk of her own.

The sound of Anna's footsteps startled Elsa, who nearly dropped the glass as she jerked her head around. She chuckled softly at her clumsiness. "I thought I was alone," she said.

Anna held her candle in front of her. Elsa was still in her green-and-red dress, which looked even more beautiful in the soft candlelight. The walls lit up with snippets of reflected light, which cast the two girls in a soft, warm illumination.

"I'm too excited for tomorrow," Anna admitted. She set the candle down on the counter and poured her drink. "You look like you haven't even gone to bed yet. Did you just get back?"

Elsa nodded. "A few friends of Mama and Papa decided to tell me some stories." She took a sip from her glass, which left a white mustache on her upper lip. "I've heard them a million times, of course, but I didn't want to offend them."

"No, of course not," Anna agreed. She chuckled at Elsa's milk mustache, before taking a drink from her own glass and leaving one of her own. "I bet I look like an old man," she mentioned, dropping her voice as low as it could go.

Elsa giggled. "Only if old men wear pink pajamas and wear braids." She wiped the mustache off her sister's lip, before doing so to herself. After taking another sip—and thus negating her previous action—she let out a happy sigh. "Can I say something?"

Anna was too busy drinking to reply; she had to settle with wiggling her eyebrows.

"I'm so happy we're back to being sisters." Elsa looked up from her glass and met Anna's gaze. "We were so close a long time ago, and I never thought we would get that back. I thought my powers would keep us separate forever. But now…" She raised a hand, and a few snowflakes appeared in the air between them. "Now I can control my powers, so I don't have to worry about hurting you anymore."

Anna finished her glass and set it down. She nodded as she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "I feel the same way," she agreed. "Now I know why we were so distant, so it's not a big…" Her voice trailed off, and she hurriedly thought of how to fix her statement. _I can't say it's_ not _a big deal, because it is. I'm still not over it, and Elsa knows that. I can't lie to her. But I have to say _something_ to let her know I'm glad we're close together again._

Elsa, however, seemed to understand perfectly. "It's such a relief," she continued. "I am so happy, Anna. Happier than I've ever been in my whole life." She put down her half-full glass and grasped Anna's hands with her own. "I never thought I could be this happy, and right now, I want to live the rest of my life feeling just like this."

The sentiment brought a joyful smile to Anna's face. She had never heard such a heartfelt confession from Elsa before—especially such a _joyful_ one. And the fact that _she_ was the reason for Elsa's joy…

The candlelight cast warm shadows all over Elsa. Even though she had magic of ice, Anna felt at that moment that her love was the warmest thing in the world.

_I should do something for Elsa._ The idea popped into Anna's head unexpectedly, but she pursued it. _Not just anything: it needs to be special. It needs to be something that she'll remember forever. And it needs to be right now._

She smiled. _The Christmas presents._ "Will you excuse me for a second?" she asked, and before Elsa could reply, Anna ran out of the kitchen. She made her way to the Christmas tree as quietly as she could—everyone in the castle was probably sleeping by now—and retrieved Elsa's Christmas present. Then she hastily returned to the kitchen and presented it to her sister.

Elsa stared at the present in confusion. "But we're not supposed to open them until tomorrow morning," she protested…even as she began tearing into the wrapping paper in earnest.

Anna excitedly waited as Elsa tore the paper off, then opened the box and angled the opening to the candlelight. Elsa gasped in amazement. "Is this…" was all she could get out, before setting the box down on the counter and reaching inside. She admired the locket for a brief moment before opening it up and looking at the portraits inside.

For several seconds, there was silence between the two sisters. Elsa's face changed from amazement to sadness, and she grazed the portraits with her fingers. "Mama…Papa…"

Anna felt a lump in her throat. "Do you like it?" she worriedly asked. She waited a few more seconds for a reply, but Elsa's face only grew more somber. "I thought you would like it. I got that artist guy in town to draw them. He said he knew them, and he made the portraits look as close to the real thing as possible, so he had to…"

Suddenly, tears began to fall from Elsa's eyes. She closed the locket and pressed it close to her heart. She bowed her head and began to weep softly.

_Oh, no. I just ruined this_, Anna began to panic. "I'm sorry," she rushed. "I thought this would be the perfect gift for you. I couldn't wait to give it to you tomorrow, you know? I just wanted to give it to you now, so you would be happy." She rubbed Elsa's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "I'm so sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's perfect," Elsa whispered in-between sobs.

Anna paused. "It…It is?"

Elsa nodded. She brought her gaze up, and beyond the tears, Anna could still see the joy in her eyes. "This is the absolute best present I could ever ask for, Anna. Thank you so much."

_But you're crying…_ Anna smiled. _Tears of joy!_ "I'm glad you like it," she replied. She embraced her sister firmly, wrapping both arms as far around her as she could. "Merry Christmas," she whispered.

Elsa sniffled and returned the hug. "Not quite yet," she whispered back.

"Hey, it's bound to be midnight by now," Anna replied.

Elsa chuckled. "That's not quite what I meant." As they pulled apart, she pressed a finger to Anna's lips. "I'll be right back," she murmured, before disappearing through the doorway.

Anna had an idea about what Elsa was up to, so she quickly gulped down the rest of Elsa's milk—she was still thirsty, and besides, it gave her an opportunity to have some fun with her sister. It wasn't long before Elsa returned, hands behind her back, and Anna had to keep from giggling when she failed to notice the empty cup on the table.

"And now it's your turn," Elsa announced. Before Anna could react, Elsa had eagerly shoved something into her hands. "Merry Christmas!" she added with a beaming smile.

In Anna's hands sat her Christmas present from Elsa: a small wooden box with a single blue ribbon on top. Unable to contain her excitement, Anna carefully lifted the lid off the box, and gasped in amazement at what lay inside.

Catching the faint light from the candle, and reflecting it in all directions, was a necklace made out of pure ice. Anna could see each individual link in the chain, and marveled at how much time Elsa must have taken to craft each one by hand.

But what really caught Anna's attention was the centerpiece, the jewel that linked the two ends of the chain together. It was a snowflake, in the same shape and style that Elsa had perfected and called her own. The six points on the snowflake shot out from the center, each ending boldly and delicately. The snowflake twinkled with all sorts of blue and purple hues, and Anna could only imagine how much more beautiful it might have been in broad daylight.

She was so absorbed in studying the necklace, she didn't notice her sister calling for her attention several times. It took a snap of Elsa's fingers to jerk her attention back to the present. "What? What is it?" she asked, embarrassed at her ignorance.

Elsa chuckled. "Do you like it?" she asked. Her voice did not show worry at all; it was obvious that Anna not only liked the gift, but absolutely loved it.

But such an answer was insufficient. Anna decided, instead of _telling_ Elsa how much she loved her present, she would _show_ her. She reached inside the box, grabbed the necklace, and slowly pulled it over her head. She wiggled her head from side to side, allowing her braids to slip past the chain, before settling it softly around her neck. It did not feel heavy at all; in fact, the only way she even knew it was there at all was because she could feel the cold chain against her skin.

"How does it look?" she asked. Not waiting for a reply, she grabbed her candle and briskly walked to the nearest mirror, which happened to be in the hallway.

When she saw herself in the mirror, wearing the necklace her sister had given her, Anna drew a breath. The necklace rested just below her neck, perfectly center. It complimented her complexion in every way possible, from her skin color to her freckles.

Elsa had made the necklace absolutely perfect.

The queen herself appeared behind Anna. She wrapped her arms around her sister's stomach and smiled at her reflection. "I'd say it looks stunning," she replied.

"Elsa, it's beautiful!" Anna whispered; she was too full of awe to say it any louder.

Elsa shrugged. "It's nothing, really. Nothing compared with _your_ gift, anyway." She raised her right hand, revealing the locket embraced in her fingers.

Anna chuckled, realizing that there was no way either of them would win this particular argument. She turned around and hugged her sister back. "Thank you so much, Elsa," she whispered. "It's wonderful!"

Elsa smiled. "You're welcome, Anna." A clock chimed in the distance and she pulled away. "It's _really_ past midnight now. We should go to bed."

"Yes, we should," Anna agreed. She turned and began walking to her room, but stopped long enough to say, "Merry Christmas," before disappearing around the corner.

Elsa, now by herself, opened her locket and looked inside. It was too dark now to see it clearly, but enough light shined in through a nearby window for her to at least make out the features of her parents. She smiled, and one final tear of happiness rolled down her cheek. "Merry Christmas, Anna."

**Author's note: Hi, guys! I hope you're enjoying this story so far. I'm trying to work on it as much as possible, because I love Frozen. It's almost been out for a full year now, and I adore it very much. I daresay, it's my favorite movie of all time - and I'm a 22-year-old male. Anyway, I feel I should give a small update. First of all, I actually spend most of my time making YouTube videos; that's my job. (My YouTube name is the same as my author name here. I make Pokemon videos.) It takes up most of my free time, but I am still devoted to this fanfic. I will finish it all up, and I hope you can stay with me for the long ride. It will take time, as it will be a long story, but in the end, I hope you find it worthwhile.**

**As well as this, I should give a big shoutout to my friend, WantsToBuildASnowman. She has been my beta reader for this and many other stories I have written, and I think she's a terrific person. She knows the characters, she loves suggesting and critiquing, and most importantly, she is just as in love with the characters from Frozen as I am. In addition to thanking her for helping me write this story, I want to mention that I'm commissioning her on a regular basis to make art work based on specific scenes throughout ****_Break the Frozen Heart -_ though she also does _plenty _of other Frozen art.**** You can find all the current art work on her Tumblr of the same name, with much more to come. (Feel free to make fan art of your own, just make sure you message me when it's done so I can share it!) **

**That's all for now. I'm not good with updates, but I hope this helps you guys understand what's going on behind the scenes. Speaking of scenes, gotta rush. It's almost Christmas Day in Arendelle!**


	6. Chapter 6

Anna had a tradition. Each year, on Christmas Day, she would get up bright and early to wake up the palace's occupants. When she was a little girl, she woke Elsa up first, and together they would terrorize the rest of Arendelle, long before the sun rose. As she got older, and Elsa locked herself up even on the happiest of occasions, Anna went solo. She would wake up her parents, then Gerda and Kai, and then the few random servants and guards who remained in the castle.

It always made her giddy, seeing the joy on everyone's faces as they woke up to welcome Christmas. The mornings were filled with opening presents and eating lots of food and making snowmen outside, and Anna always took pride in making sure she was the first person everyone saw.

It was to her disappointment, then, that she woke up to Elsa nudging her shoulder. She groaned, half of her unwilling to wake up, and the other half unwilling to admit that Elsa was up before her on Christmas.

"Wake up, morning sunshine," Elsa chuckled.

"Go back to sleep, Elsa," Anna begged. She rolled over, belly on the bed, and dug her head underneath her pillow. "I'm supposed to be waking _you_ up today."

In her tired state, it did not take long for Anna to feel herself wandering back to Dreamland. But before she could fall back asleep, her feet quickly turned cold, and she jerked back awake in fright.

Elsa, standing at the foot of Anna's bed, was already dressed and made up for the day. Her hair was in its signature side braid, but this time she let her bangs down in front of her face. Her makeup was limited to some lip-gloss and blush, which was unusual; Elsa often went through every piece of makeup she owned to help give her complexion a boost. She wore her blue ice dress, the one that she loved the most and wore often.

And her fingers were brushed up against Anna's feet.

"I have a new royal tradition," Elsa announced with a smile, as Anna begrudgingly sat up in her bed. "From now on, the Queen shall wake her little sister up on Christmas morning."

Anna groaned. "Can her little sister veto this tradition?" She rubbed her face and fought to keep her eyes open. "We were up really late, you know. I doubt I got my eight hours of sleep."

"I doubt either of us did," Elsa agreed, "but it's Christmas morning." She walked up to Anna and patted her shoulder. "It's our first Christmas together in years," she added in a whisper. "I'm just really excited to finally share one with you again."

Suddenly, Anna felt more awake. She looked over at Elsa, a smile appearing on her face. "Who do you want to wake up first?" she asked excitedly.

Elsa chuckled, grabbing Anna's hands and helping her stand up. "First things first. You need to get dressed for the day." She patted Anna's hair, which was in a bushy heap on top of her head. "And fix your hair."

Anna managed to drag herself out of bed, fighting to stay awake every inch of the way. She stretched her arms, which ached in protest. "No fair," she mumbled one last time, before walking over to her wardrobe.

Within minutes, with Elsa's help, she had changed into her outfit for the day: a green dress with purple accents. Her hair was quickly put into a bun and secured with an ice-pin made by Elsa, who immediately tugged Anna down the hallway with glee.

"Come on!" she encouraged, her voice echoing off the walls. They rushed up to the nearest room—the one belonging to Gerda—and pounded on the door in unison. "Wakey wakey, Gerda!" Elsa chanted.

Anna, forcing her voice to sound as awake as possible, joined in. "It's Christmas!" she called. "Come out, sleepy head!"

"Look who's talking," Elsa chuckled. She reached up to knock once again, but right as her hand fell on the wood, the door gently opened.

Gerda stood there, fully ready for the day. She smiled cheerfully at the two startled sisters. "Good morning, Queen Elsa, Princess Anna." She chuckled. "Anna, you look tired."

"Why aren't you?" Anna asked curiously. "We were supposed to wake you up. You look like you've been awake for hours."

"Oh, not quite that long. Probably just one," Gerda admitted. "Merry Christmas!" she added with a smile.

Elsa and Anna, too dumbstruck to respond, simply nodded their heads and quietly continued their trek down the hallway. Their next stop was Kai's room, two doors down.

Anna raised her fist to pound on the door, but Elsa gently touched her shoulder, stopping her. Without a word of explanation, Elsa quietly knocked, her fingers barely grazing the wood.

Almost immediately, Kai flung the door open and spread his arms. "Merry Christmas, girls!" he announced, grabbing the two sisters and pulling them close.

While it would have been untrue to say the girls were surprised that Kai was awake, they were startled at just _how_ awake he was. Usually Kai wasn't very physical, and when he was, it usually meant he had been up already for several hours.

Between his arm and his chest, Anna managed to squeak out, "How long have you been up?"

"An hour and a half," Kai proudly declared. He set the two back down. "Ivan was kind enough to wake me up."

At the sound of the young guard's name, Anna saw Elsa's face turn a color she did not see it turn very often: red. Elsa's face, ever so slightly, betrayed her inner frustration. It only lasted for a moment, after which Elsa returned to her startled look, but it lasted long enough for Anna to see it.

"Well, that was kind of him," Elsa remarked; if Anna didn't know any better, she would have sworn it was a compliment. "I assume he also woke up Gerda?"

"Oh, yes," Kai replied with a nod. "Gerda, the other guards, the kitchen staff… Everyone in the castle except you two."

The look returned, and this time it did not disappear. Without a word, Elsa turned on her heel and walked away.

"Elsa, wait," Anna called, before stopping herself and hurriedly saying "Merry Christmas" to Kai. Then she skipped over to catch up with her elder sister. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

"Ivan. That's what's wrong." It was very rare that Elsa got mad, but when she did, the look in her eye, the features of her face, the drop in temperature around her—it was all unmistakable. "He woke up _everyone_ in this castle."

"Yeah, but we were going to do that anyway," Anna pointed out. She was not afraid of Elsa doing anything rash; on the contrary, Elsa had better self-control of anyone she knew, especially Anna herself. But she did not want to see Elsa mad on today of all days: the happiest day of the year. "Does it really matter if he woke everyone up an hour or two early?"

Elsa slowed to a stop. Her hands clenched into fists, and for the first time in her life, Anna worried that she would lose her temper. Through gritted teeth, she managed to force out, "Because this was supposed to be for just you and me." She took a deep breath, pushing back her frustration as much as possible, before continuing. "Ever since we have become close again, I have tried everything I can to make things up to you—our years apart, freezing your heart…" Her voice trailed off, and she spent several long seconds with her back to Anna. "Sorry," she finally whispered.

Anna patted Elsa's shoulder. "It's okay." She spread her arms out in a ta-da gesture. "Look! No frozen heart here!" When Elsa didn't immediately react, she grabbed her hand and placed it on her chest. "See? No frozen heart."

Elsa remained silent for another moment, before finally allowing a smile to cross her face. "I know. I just really wanted to let you know…" Once again, her voice trailed off, and this time, Anna didn't know what to say.

Elsa had never in her life told Anna those three simple words. Anna had, of course. It came naturally to her. She had been saying it her whole life, to just about everyone—sometimes inappropriately so, or too soon. But for Elsa, saying "I love you" was just too difficult. Her actions spoke louder than words ever could, of course; it was more than obvious by now that Elsa loved her younger sister very, very much. But still, she had never been able to flat-out say it.

Anna understood. She grasped Elsa's hand all the tighter. "I know. You don't have to say anything, when I've already _seen_ it."

In that moment, all the frustration in Elsa's face vanished, replaced by…

_Warmth?_ Anna had to stifle a chuckle. _Is Elsa really feeling warmth?_

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," Elsa responded. She took Anna's hands in her own and grasped them. "Thank you, Anna."

Anna smiled. "Now, are we going to get to Christmas or what?" Before Elsa had a chance to answer, Anna dragged her through the rest of the hall, down the stairs, and into the ballroom. Most of the castle residents were already there, opening their Christmas presents; it was Christmas morning, after all.

After some rushed pleasantries, Anna dove into the pile of presents—quite literally—and began sorting them out. "Okay, this one's yours," she announced, tossing a present to Elsa. "Ooh, this one's mine!" she squealed, setting it aside as gently as possible. "This one's for Olaf," she added, and turned to give the snowman his present.

Olaf wasn't there.

"Where's Olaf?" she asked Elsa, who simply shrugged. Anna called a servant over to find Olaf, who was undoubtedly lost in the palace like he often was, before returning to the presents. "Mine, mine, mine. Oh, Elsa, here's one from…"

When Anna's voice stopped short, and a look of dread filled her face, Elsa moved closer. "What is it?" she asked.

Anna gulped, and slowly presented the small wrapped box to Elsa. "It's…from Hans."

Elsa, who had already grabbed the present, dropped it in shock. Everyone else in the room, up until that point merrily chatting and opening presents, fell silent and stared at her.

"Why did Hans send _me_ a Christmas present?" she managed to ask.

Anna crawled over to Elsa, picked up the box, and handed it back to her. "The only way to find out is to open it," she replied. There was no cheer in her voice at all.

For a moment, Elsa considered simply discarding the gift. After all, she wanted nothing to do with Hans; he was lucky she didn't have him executed for treason. She didn't want to see him again, didn't want to _think_ of him again. If the name Hans Westerguard never fell upon her ears again, she would die happy. So why not get rid of this gift, pretend it never showed up, and enjoy her merry Christmas?

But before she knew it, the wrapping was off and she was lifting the lid off the box. And in that moment, when her eyes fell on the items inside, she wished she had just thrown the gift away.

Gloves.

"Hans sent me gloves."

A whisper escaped her lips—it must have been. Nobody else in the room knew. She did not mean to say it, but the shock—the horror—caused her to lose all sense of time and space. For a brief moment, she began reliving her childhood. She saw the gloves, her only barrier against her powers, failing time after time when she was alone in her room. She saw Anna playing in the snow, being struck on the head. She saw Anna frozen solid in front of her on the icy fjord…

The box dropped back to the ground. The gloves bounced out and landed in front of Anna. Suddenly, Elsa couldn't tell if this was the Anna really in front of her right now, or the Anna from her past—the one she had killed with her powers.

Elsa's breath caught and she backed away. Anna, both confused and desperate, jumped to her feet and ran up to Elsa. "No, stay away, Anna!" Elsa begged, hugging her tummy and turning away. "I'm not safe." The air around her began to grow cold, which caused her to feel even more stressed. "I'm not safe," she repeated in a whisper.

Anna, however, would have none of it. "Elsa," she said, slowly moving closer, "the past is in the past. I know you love me. I've seen it. I've_ felt_ it." She gently put a hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I'm here for you. I _love_ you. Please remember that."

Elsa absorbed Anna's words, and as she did, the visions left her. The bad things of the past faded away, replaced by her sister now standing in front of her.

And Olaf walking up from behind. "Hi, everybody!" he announced. He was jumping up and down so much, his head kept disappearing inside his personal snow flurry. "I'm excited to open presents! Oh, I hope I get a new nose, or new buttons…" He walked over to the pile of presents. "Oh, here's that book I got for Elsa!"

At this, Elsa found herself chuckling; the book was still wrapped up. It was just what she needed at that moment: a reminder of how great her life was right now, living with Anna, Olaf, and all her friends who made her feel loved.

"Thank you, Olaf," she called, before turning back to her sister with a smile. "And you too, Anna."

Anna smiled in return. "Merry Christmas, Elsa."

**Hi, guys. Sorry this chapter is short, and that it took so long, but it felt like a good stopping place. Anyway, one quick thing is that WantsToBuildASnowmah made another commissioned picture for me, which is based off the final scene from the last chapter. Go check out her Tumblr to look at it! (links don't seem to work well here, oh well) Hopefully I'll have the next part of the story posted before Christmas. Hope you enjoy!**


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